Delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter

ABSTRACT

An exemplary continuous-time delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter includes a loop filter, a quantizer, a dynamic element matching circuit, a latch, and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The loop filter contains a plurality of integrators coupled in series, including a first integrator and a second integrator; a first positive feedback resistive element, placed in a first positive feedback path between a first output node of the second integrator and a first input node of the first integrator; and a first negative feedback resistive element, placed in a first negative feedback path between a second output node of the second integrator and the first second input node of the first integrator. The quantizer is implemented using a domino quantizer. The DAC contains a plurality of DAC units each having a capacitive device, a resistive device, and a switch device coupled between the capacitive device and the resistive device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/097,522, filed on Sep. 16, 2008 and incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to converting an analog input into adigital output, and more particularly, to a delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter with innovative designs of the loop filter,the quantizer, the digital-to-analog converter, and/or the operationalamplifier(s) included therein.

In today's world, the market for information and communicationtechnology is expanding as never before. Not surprisingly, wirelesscommunication has become more and more important. Nowadays, a variety ofwireless communication systems have been developed. In general, thewireless signals are received by an antenna, and the desired frequencyband is selected from the received spectrum. Next, the selectedfrequency band undergoes a plurality of signal processing stages,including analog filtering, amplification, demodulation,analog-to-digital conversion, etc. Further signal processing is done inthe digital domain by a digital circuit, such as a digital signalprocessor (DSP).

Important trends in the receiver design for wireless communicationapplications are: smaller product size, lower product cost and longerstand-by time. Products can be made smaller and cheaper by increasingthe level of integration. This means on-chip integration of externalcomponents, such as inductors and filters. Thus, an important role canbe played by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) implemented in thereceiver. More specifically, shifting the ADC towards the antenna sideof the receiver would allow more digital integration of (external)analog functions on a single chip. However, this requires theimplemented ADC with high linearity, dynamic range and bandwidthcapabilities.

Continuous-time delta-sigma modulation is a good technique foranalog-to-digital conversion as it incorporates inherent anti-aliasingfiltering, excellent linearity performance, and low-power capability.Therefore, a continuous-time delta-sigma analog-to-digital convertermanifests itself in a wireless communication system, such as a GSM/WCDMAsystem, as an indispensable building block. In this way, most part ofthe front-end gain adaptation and blocker filtering can be dealt with inthe DSP which is robust and scalable.

In view of above, how to design a continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter satisfying requirements of a designatedapplication, such as a wireless communication receiver, becomes achallenge to the circuit designer.

SUMMARY

In accordance with exemplary embodiment of the present invention, adelta-sigma analog-to-digital converter, such as a continuous-timedelta-sigma analog-to-digital converter, with innovative designs of theloop filter, the quantizer, the digital-to-analog converter, and/or theoperational amplifier(s) included therein is proposed.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a loop filterimplemented in a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter is disclosed.The loop filter includes: a plurality of integrators coupled in series,comprising a first integrator and a second integrator; a first positivefeedback resistive element, placed in a first positive feedback pathbetween a first output node of the second integrator and a first inputnode of the first integrator; and a first negative feedback resistiveelement, placed in a first negative feedback path between a secondoutput node of the second integrator and the first second input node ofthe first integrator.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a quantizerimplemented in a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter is disclosed.The quantizer includes a comparing circuit and a processing circuit. Thecomparing circuit is implemented for comparing an analog input with aplurality of different reference voltages to derive a plurality ofcomparison results, respectively, wherein each of the comparison resultshas either a first logic value or a second logic value. The processingcircuit is coupled to the comparing circuit, and implemented forgenerating a plurality of output logic values according to thecomparison results. When the comparison results include at least onefirst logic value and at least one second logic value, the processingcircuit is operative to make an output logic value corresponding to eachcomparison result in a portion of the comparison results have the firstlogic value and an output logic value corresponding to each comparisonresult in a remaining portion of the comparison results have the secondlogic value, wherein each comparison result in the portion of thecomparison results corresponds to a reference voltage greater than areference voltage to which each comparison result in the remainingportion of the comparison results corresponds.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, adigital-to-analog convert (DAC) implemented in a delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter is disclosed. The DAC includes at least aDAC unit which is operated according to a clock signal to convert aninput bit into an analog output and includes a capacitive device, aresistive device, and a switch device. The resistive device is coupledbetween an operational amplifier input port of the delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter and the switch device, and outputs theanalog output to the operational amplifier input port. The switch deviceis coupled between the capacitive device and the resistive device, andis implemented for disconnecting the resistive device from thecapacitive device and connecting a power source to the capacitive deviceto pre-charge the capacitive device when the clock signal is at a firstlogic level, and for disconnecting the power source from the capacitivedevice and connecting the resistive device to the capacitive device togenerate the analog output in response to the input bit when the clocksignal is at a second logic level different from the first logic level.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an operationalamplifier implemented in a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter isdisclosed. The operational amplifier includes: a first signal processingblock, coupled between an input port and an output port of theoperational amplifier; a second signal processing block, coupled betweenthe input port and the output port of the operational amplifier, whereincompared with the first signal processing block, the second signalprocessing block has a lower gain and a higher bandwidth; a firstcurrent clamping circuit, coupled to the first signal processing block,for clamping a first bias current provided to the first signalprocessing block; and a second current clamping circuit, coupled to thesecond signal processing block, for clamping a second bias currentprovided to the second signal processing block.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an exemplary implementation of a multiplexershown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of a loopfilter shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary circuit model.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of aquantizer 106 shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary operation of a processing circuit shown inFIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of adigital-to-analog converter shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of anoperational amplifier according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram of one implementation of the exemplaryoperational amplifier shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a first exemplary placement of acompensation capacitive element according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a second exemplary placement of acompensation capacitive element according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain terms are used throughout the description and following claimsto refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art willappreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component by different names.This document does not intend to distinguish between components thatdiffer in name but not function. In the following description and in theclaims, the terms “include” and “comprise” are used in an open-endedfashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “include, but notlimited to . . . ”. Also, the term “couple” is intended to mean eitheran indirect or direct electrical connection. Accordingly, if one deviceis coupled to another device, that connection may be through a directelectrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection viaother devices and connections.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. The exemplary continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter 100 includes an adder 102, a loop filter104, a quantizer 106, a dynamic element matching (DEM) circuit 108, alatch 110, and a DAC 112. The adder 102 outputs a difference between ananalog input S_IN and a DAC output DAC_OUT to the loop filter 104. Theloop filter 104 is designed according to a desired noise transferfunction (NTF), and is implemented using operational amplifier(s) and RCelement(s). For example, the loop filter 104 includes one or moreintegrators. An output of the loop filter 104 is processed by thequantizer 106 to derive a digital output S_OUT.

In this exemplary embodiment, the DAC 112 is implemented using amulti-bit switched-capacitor DAC instead of a one-bit DAC. The choice ofthe multi-bit DAC here allows an implementation of a low-order loopfilter with moderate out-of-band gain (e.g., 7.56 dB) in the NTF thatprovides, for example, 96 dB signal-to-quantization-noise ratio (SQNR).The compact loop filter entails less signal routing and straycapacitance which is preferred in a high-speed operation since the inputparasitic capacitance of the operational amplifier will deteriorate thebandwidth of the operational amplifier. As the DAC 112 in this exemplaryembodiment is realized using a multi-bit DAC architecture, the DAC 112therefore includes a plurality of DAC units each for converting an inputbit into an analog output. Owing to limited matching property ofmultiple DAC units, linearization technique, such as the dynamic elementmatching, is adopted to shape the mismatch. The DEM circuit 108 istherefore employed to average the mismatch between the DAC unitsimplemented in the DAC 112. As shown in FIG. 1, the exemplary DEMcircuit 108 includes a counter 114 and a multiplexer 116. The counter114 generates a selection signal PTR according to a processing result ofthe quantizer 106, and the multiplexer 116 refers to the selectionsignal PTR to forward the processing result of the quantizer 106 toselected DAC units for digital-to-analog conversion. For instance, themultiplexer 116 is implemented using a switch matrix consisting of aplurality of switch elements. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an exemplaryimplementation of the multiplexer 116 shown in FIG. 1. Each circle shownin FIG. 2 represents a switch element. Suppose that the DAC 112 haseight DAC units implemented therein. Therefore, the output bits M0-M7will be respectively forwarded to the DAC units for digital-to-analogconversion. More specifically, the switch matrix is essentially a unionof eight 8-to-1 multiplexer units each controlled by the selectionsignal PTR. The multiplexer outputs of the eight 8-to-1 multiplexerunits act as output bits M0-M7, respectively; that is, based on thesetting of the selection signal PTR and the actual configuration of the8-to-1 multiplexer units, each of the 8-to-1 multiplexer units selectsone of the input bits Q0-Q6 and the ground level GND to be a multiplexeroutput acting as a corresponding output bit. As shown in FIG. 2, thecurrent selection made by the selection signal PTR makes the input bitsQ0-Q6 and the ground level GND serve as output bits M0-M7, respectively;however, if the selection signal PTR is shifted to the next position,the new selection made by the selection signal PTR makes the input bitsQ0-Q6 and the ground level GND serve as output bits M1-M7 and M0,respectively. In an exemplary case where the processing result of thequantizer 106 has two bits Q0 and Q1, the current selection made by theselection signal PTR shown in FIG. 2 makes the input bit Q0 and Q1 serveas output bits M0 and M1, respectively; and the next selection made bythe selection signal PTR will make the input bit Q0 and Q1 serve asoutput bits M2 and M3, respectively. As the DAC units are selected in arotation manner, DAC units are effectively shuffled during eachdigital-to-analog conversion cycle, thereby mitigating the effect causedby the inherent element mismatch.

As shown in FIG. 1, the latch 110 is placed between the DAC 112 and theDEM circuit 108. In this exemplary embodiment, the latch 110 isimplemented to hold the output of the multiplexer 114, thereby allowingthe DEM circuit 108 to calculate the selection signal PTR for the nextcycle in advance. In this way, the DEM circuit 108 can take the fullcycle to work efficiently.

As the conception of the present invention does not focus on the designsof the DEM circuit 108 and the latch 110, further description is omittedfor the sake of brevity. On the other hand, the present inventionproposes innovative designs of the loop filter 104, the quantizer 106,and the DAC 112 included in the exemplary continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter 100 shown in FIG. 2. Further details areillustrated as follows.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of the loopfilter 104 shown in FIG. 1. In this exemplary implementation, the loopfilter 104 is a 3^(rd) order feed-forward loop filter employing aninverse-Chebyshev noise transfer function, and includes a plurality ofintegrators 302, 304, and 306 coupled in series. The output of the DAC112 is fed back to loop filter 104 via nodes NA and NB, where theinterconnections at nodes NA and NB act as the adder 102 shown in FIG. 1for adjusting the actual input of the loop filter 104 according to theDAC output of the DAC 112. In addition, there are negative feedbackresistive elements R_(n) and R_(n)′ respectively placed in negativefeedback paths between the integrators 304 and 306. Each negativefeedback resistive element forms a resonator which places a notch arounda specific frequency (e.g., 2 MHz) in the noise transfer function;however, as the feedback coefficient is usually very small, a largeresistive value is required for implementing each negative feedbackresistive element, which would occupy a large chip area. To solve such aproblem, the present invention proposes the use of additional positivefeedback resistive elements placed in respective positive feedback pathsbetween the integrators 304 and 306. More specifically, as shown in FIG.3, one positive feedback resistive element R_(p) is coupled between afirst output node (−) of the integrator 306 and a first input node (−)of the integrator 304, another positive feedback resistive elementR_(p)′ is coupled between the second output node (+) of the integrator306 and the second input node (+) of the integrator 304, the negativefeedback resistive element R_(n) is coupled between the second outputnode (+) of the integrator 306 and the first input node (−) of theintegrator 304, and the negative feedback resistive element R_(n)′ iscoupled between the first output node (−) of the integrator 306 and thesecond input node (+) of the integrator 304.

With a proper resistive value setting of each positive feedbackresistive element, a large effective resistive value can be derivedaccordingly. In this implementation, the resistive value of the positivefeedback resistive element R_(p) is set greater than the resistive valueof the negative feedback resistive element R_(n); additionally, theresistive value of the positive feedback resistive element R_(p)′ isalso set greater than the resistive value of the negative feedbackresistive element R_(n)′. Please refer to FIG. 4. The effectiveresistive value can be estimated using the exemplary circuit model shownin FIG. 4. The transfer function H(s) in the s-domain can be expressedas follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{H(S)} = {\frac{1}{S \cdot C}\left( {\frac{1}{R_{1}} - \frac{1}{R_{2}}} \right)}} & (1)\end{matrix}$

In above equation (1), C represents a capacitive value of the feedbackcapacitor, R₁ represents the resistive value of the negative feedbackresistive element, and R₂ represents the resistive value of the positivefeedback resistive element. Therefore, as one can see, the effectiveresistive value R_(eff) for the combination of the positive feedbackresistive element and the negative feedback resistive element can beexpressed as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{R_{eff} = {\frac{1}{\frac{1}{R_{1}} - \frac{1}{R_{2}}} = \frac{R_{1} \cdot R_{2}}{R_{2} - R_{1}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

If the resistive value of the positive feedback resistive element is setgreater than but close to the resistive value of the negative feedbackresistive element (e.g., R₂=R₁+ΔR), the effective resistive valueR_(eff) becomes:

$\begin{matrix}{{R_{eff} = \frac{R_{1} \cdot R_{2}}{\Delta \; R}},{{{where}\mspace{14mu} R_{2}} = {R_{1} + {\Delta \; R}}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

In this way, a large effective resistive value R_(eff) can be obtainedthrough adding a positive feedback resistive element to a positivefeedback path of the loop filter. Compared with the design which usesnegative feedback resistive elements only, the proposed design using thecombination of positive and negative feedback resistive elements caneffectively reduce the resistor size, for example, by 10×.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary implementation of thequantizer 106 shown in FIG. 1. In this exemplary implementation, thequantizer 106 includes a comparing circuit 502 and a processing circuit504. To put it simply, the comparing circuit 502 is implemented forcomparing an analog input, including Vo+ and Vo− generated from thepreceding loop filter 104 as shown in FIG. 3, with a plurality ofdifferent reference voltages to derive a plurality of comparison resultsCR₀-CR₆, respectively, wherein each of the comparison results has eithera first logic value or a second logic value. In this exemplaryembodiment, the comparing circuit 502 shown in FIG. 5 is implementedusing a Flash ADC architecture, also known as a parallel ADCarchitecture. Therefore, a conventional Flash ADC design including aplurality of pre-amplifiers 506 and a plurality of latches 508 isemployed. The latches 508 will regenerate the latched bits at eachrising edge of an ADC clock signal CKQ. As details of such aconventional Flash ADC design are well known to those skilled in thepertinent art, further description is omitted here for the sake ofbrevity.

Furthermore, in this exemplary implementation, a 3-bit Flash ADCarchitecture is used. Therefore, the digital thermometer code generatedfrom the comparing circuit 502 includes (2³-1) bits CR₆, CR₅, . . . ,CR₂, CR₁, CR₀, where CR₆ is the most significant bit (MSB), and CR₀ isthe least significant bit (LSB). In general, a bit in the digitalthermometer code is “1” when the analog input voltage is higher than acorresponding reference voltage compared with the analog input voltage;otherwise, the bit is set by “0”. Thus, the point where the digitalthermometer code has a transition from “1” to “0” is the point where theanalog input voltage becomes smaller than a particular referencevoltage. Normally, the digital thermometer code, as known to thoseskilled in the art, should have a normal pattern such as 0001111 fromMSB to LSB. However, errors may cause the digital thermometer code tohave an abnormal pattern such as 0101111. This spurious “1” presented inthe digital thermometer code is called a bubble error. To effectivelyremove the bubble error and arbitrate meta-stability condition, thepresent invention therefore proposes a domino quantizer architecture.The processing circuit 504 is therefore coupled to the comparing circuit502, and is implemented for generating a plurality of output logicvalues Q0-Q6 through processing the comparison results CR₀-CR₆. Theoperation of the processing circuit 504 can be briefly summarized asfollows.

When the comparison results CR₀-CR₆ include at least one first logicvalue and at least one second logic value (i.e., the comparison resultsCR₀-CR₆ are neither all 0's nor all 1's), it is possible that there is abubble error in the comparison results CR₀-CR₆. The processing circuit504 is therefore implemented to remove the undesired bubble errorexisting in the comparison results CR₀-CR₆, thereby generating theoutput logic values Q0-Q6 which form a digital thermometer code withoutany bubble error included therein. Regarding the output logic valuesQ0-Q6 respectively derived from processing the comparison resultsCR₀-CR₆, the output logic values Q0-Q6 (i.e., the processing result)generated by the processing circuit 504 can be divided into a firstpart, which includes one or more output logic values each having thesame logic value (e.g., ‘0’) and is associated with a portion of thecomparison results CR₀-CR₆ (e.g., CR₄, CR₅, and CR₆) corresponds tohigher reference voltages compared with the analog input generated fromthe preceding loop filter 104, and a second part, which includes one ormore output logic values each having the same logic value (e.g., ‘1’)and is associated with a remaining portion of the comparison resultsCR₀-CR₆ (e.g., CR₀, CR₁, CR₂, and CR₃) corresponds to lower referencevoltages compared with the analog input generated from the precedingloop filter 104. To put it simply, the processing circuit 504 makes anoutput logic value (e.g., Q4, Q5, or Q6) corresponding to eachcomparison result in a portion of the comparison results (e.g., CR₄,CR₅, and CR₆) have the first logic value (e.g., ‘0’) and an output logicvalue (e.g., Q0, Q1, Q2, and Q3) corresponding to each comparison resultin a remaining portion of the comparison results (e.g., CR₀, CR₁, CR₂,and CR₃) have the second logic value (e.g., ‘1’), where each comparisonresult in the portion of the comparison results corresponds to areference voltage greater than a reference voltage to which eachcomparison result in the remaining portion of the comparison resultscorresponds. In other words, the processing circuit 504 preventsfollowing patterns presented in the final output of the quantizer 106:one or more 1's sandwiched by two 0's and one or more 0's sandwiched bytwo 1's. Further details are illustrated as follows.

In the exemplary implementation shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of logicgates 506_1, 506_2, . . . , 506_N-2, 506_N-1 are used to realize theprocessing circuit 504. It should be noted that the number of logicgates implemented in the processing circuit 504 depends upon the numberof comparison results generated from the comparing circuit 502. Forexample, provided that the number of the comparison results is equal toa positive integer N, the processing circuit 504 is configured to have(N-1) logic gates. Regarding the exemplary implementation shown in FIG.5, as the number of comparison results CR₀-CR₆ is equal to 7 (i.e.,N=7), the number of logic gates implemented in the processing circuit504 is 6 (i.e., N-1=6).

As shown in FIG. 5, the logic gates 506_1, 506_2, . . . , 506_N-2,506_N-1 are coupled in a domino configuration for generating outputlogic values Q0-Q6, respectively. Specifically, a second input node IN2of the leading logic gate (i.e., the logic gate 506_1) receives acomparison result CR₀ which directly serves as one output logic valueQ0; first input nodes IN1 of the logic gates 506_1, 506_2, . . . ,506_N-2, 506_N-1 receive the comparison results CR₀-CR₆, respectively;the output node of each of the leading logic gate (i.e., the logic gate506_1) and the next (N-3) logic gates (i.e., the logic gates506_2-506_N-2) is coupled to the second input node IN2 of a followinglogic gate.

In this exemplary implementation, each of the logic gates 506_1, 506_2,. . . , 506_N-2, 506_N-1 is an AND gate. Therefore, the combinationallogic realized by the processing circuit 504 is to reset subsequentlatch outputs to 0's upon detecting any occurrence of zero. Please referto FIG. 6, which shows an exemplary operation of the processing circuit504 shown in FIG. 5. As the comparison result CR₄ has a logic value “0”,the corresponding output logic value Q4 will be “0” due to the inherentcharacteristic of the AND gate; besides, following output logic valuesQ5 and Q6 will be 0's due to the cascaded AND gates. As a result, theoriginal thermometer code 0101111 with the bubble problem is adjusted tobe a bubble-free thermometer code 0001111.

Please note that, because only one latch output toggles each time andonly one or two latch outputs change states from cycle to cycle due toover-sampling, the delay of the AND gate chain won't be problematic. Inaddition, in above exemplary implementation, each of the logic gates506_1, 506_2, . . . , 506_N-2, 506_N-1 is simply implemented using anAND gate; however, provided that the same objective of avoiding one ormore 1's sandwiched by two 0's and one or more 0's sandwiched by two 1'sis achieved, the logic gates 506_1, 506_2, . . . , 506_N-2, 506_N-1 in adomino configuration can also be realized using other logic circuits.

Another important design aspect is the DAC 112 shown in FIG. 2. Pleaserefer to FIG. 7, which shows an exemplary implementation of the DAC 112.In this exemplary implementation, the DAC 112 is a multi-bitswitched-capacitor DAC, and includes a plurality of DAC units 702operated according to the DAC clock signal CK to convert a plurality ofinput bits din<7:0> into a plurality of analog outputs, simultaneouslyand respectively; besides, the DAC 112 outputs the analog outputs to theloop filter 104 via the same nodes NA and NB. In other words, in thisexemplary embodiment, the DAC 112 is configured to output the analogoutputs to an operational amplifier input port of the loop filter 104(e.g., the inverting input terminal (−) and/or the non-inverting inputterminal (+) of an operational amplifier implemented in the integrator302). Each DAC unit 702 is configured to have a capacitive device 704, aswitch device 706, and a resistive device 708. As shown in FIG. 7, theresistive device 708 is placed at a location closer to an input side ofan operational amplifier in the loop filter 104. That is, the resistivedevice 708 is coupled between an operational amplifier input port withinthe exemplary continuous-time delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter100 (e.g., the aforementioned operational amplifier input port of theloop filter 104) and the switch device 706 for outputting an analogoutput to the operational amplifier input port, and the switch device706 is coupled between the capacitive device 704 and the resistivedevice 708 to isolate the clock coupling for improving the totalharmonic distortion (THD) greatly. When the clock signal CK is at afirst logic level (e.g., “0”), the switch device 706 disconnects theresistive device 708 from the capacitive device 704, and connects apower source, which includes a first supply voltage V_(rp) and a secondsupply voltage V_(rn), to the capacitive device 704 to pre-charge thecapacitive device 704; on the other hand, when the clock signal CK is ata second logic level (e.g., “1”), the switch device 706 disconnects thepower source from the capacitive device 704, and connects the resistivedevice 708 to the capacitive device 704 to generate the analog output inresponse to the input bit. To put it simply, in a first phase of the DACunit 702, the capacitive device 704 is pre-charged to store charges inresponse to the supply voltage; and in a second phase of the DAC unit702, the charges stored in the capacitive device 704 are transferred tothe capacitive elements of the integrator 302 shown in FIG. 3 accordingto the quantizer output.

In detail, the capacitive device 704 includes a first capacitive elementC_(dac) coupled between a grounding node GND and a first node A, and asecond capacitive element C_(dac)′ coupled between the grounding nodeGND and a second node B; the resistive device 708 includes a firstresistive element R_(DAC) with one end coupled to node NA and a secondresistive element R_(DAC)′ with one end coupled to node NB; besides, theswitch device 706 includes a first switch SW1 coupled between the firstsupply voltage V_(rp) and the first node A, a second switch SW2 coupledbetween the second supply voltage V_(rn) and the second node B, a thirdswitch SW3 coupled between the first resistive element R_(DAC) and thefirst node A, a fourth switch SW4 coupled between the second resistiveelement R_(DAC)′ and the second node B, a fifth switch SW5 coupledbetween the first resistive element R_(dac) and the second node B, and asixth switch SW6 coupled between the second resistive element R_(DAC)′and the first node A. As shown in FIG. 7, the on/off states of the firstswitch SW1 and the second switch SW2 are dominated by CK, implying thatthe first switch SW1 and the second switch SW2 are both turned on whenthe clock signal is at the logic low level (e.g., “0”); the on/offstates of the third switch SW3 and the fourth switch SW4 are dominatedby CK·din, implying that the third switch SW3 and the fourth switch SW4are both turned on when the clock signal is at the logic high level andthe input bit has the logic value “1”; and on/off states of the fifthswitch SW5 and the sixth switch SW6 are dominated by CK· din, implyingthat the fifth switch SW5 and the sixth switch SW6 are both turned onwhen the clock signal is at the logic high level and the input bit hasthe other logic value “0”.

Taking noise contribution and driving capability of the ADC input bufferinto consideration, the input resistance of the loop filter 104 (i.e.,each resistive element of the integrator 302 shown in FIG. 3) is set bya large resistive value, such as 4 k ohm. In addition, in a case wherethe input resistance of the loop filter 104 is far greater than the eachof the first and second resistive elements R_(dac) and R_(dac)′, theinput common mode of the operational amplifier is therefore determinedby an average of the first supply voltage V_(rp) and the second supplyvoltage V_(rn). Please note that the time constant R_(DAC)·C_(DAC)affects not only loop gain but also jitter sensitivity. When the powerbudget is taken into consideration, the time constant R_(DAC)·C_(DAC) inan exemplary implementation is set by 0.1 T, where T is one period ofthe DAC clock signal CK. Furthermore, in a case where an RZ(Return-to-Zero) coding is used, there is no data-dependent settlingissue as the voltages at nodes A and B are reset each cycle due toinherent characteristics of the RZ coding.

Regarding the operational amplifier employed in the loop filter 104shown in FIG. 3, the present invention further proposes an innovativedesign as shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplaryimplementation of an operational amplifier according to the presentinvention. The operational amplifier 800 includes a first signalprocessing block 802 coupled between an input port IN and an output portOUT of the operational amplifier 800, a second signal processing block804 coupled between the input port IN and the output port OUT, aplurality of current clamping circuits 806 and 808, respectively coupledto the first signal processing block 802 and the second signalprocessing block 804, for clamping bias currents lb and lb′ provided tothe first and second signal processing blocks 802 and 804, and acurrent-mode common-mode feedback (CMFB) circuit 810, coupled to nodeswhere the current clamping circuits 806 and 808 connected to the firstand second signal processing blocks 802 and 804. It should be notedthat, compared with the first signal processing block 802, the secondsignal processing block 804 has a lower gain and a higher bandwidth(BW). In addition, the first signal processing block 802 generates afirst output signal S1 according to an input signal at the input portIN, the second signal processing block 804 generates a second outputsignal S2 according to the same input signal at the input port IN, andthe output signal at the output port OUT is equivalent to a combinationof the first output signal S1 and the second output signal S2. Besides,the overall frequency response of the combination of the first signalprocessing block 802 and the second signal processing block 804 isequivalent to a combination of the frequency response of the firstsignal processing block 802 and the frequency response of the secondsignal processing block 804.

Please refer to FIG. 9 in conjunction with FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is a circuitdiagram of one implementation of the exemplary operational amplifier 800shown in FIG. 8. The circuit block 902 includes a plurality oftransistors operated according to input voltages Vi+ and Vi− and biasvoltages VB1 and VB2, and provides one-stage amplification, which servesas the second signal processing block 804, and two-stage amplification,which serves as the first signal processing block 802. To keep theoutput differential pair M1 and M1′ in saturation and maximize theoutput swing, the input common-mode voltage has to be set higher, whichleaves no headroom for tail current source. Moreover, there is a voltagestep on the input voltages Vi+ and Vi− when the switched-capacitor DACis applied. Therefore, there is difficulty in operating the operationalamplifier under 1.2V supply voltage. The present invention thereforeproposes using the current clamping circuit to mitigate such a problemby tracking V_(ds) of transistor M3 with the transistor M2. The clampingcircuit demonstrates high output resistance even at 50 mV V_(ds). Thetransistors M4 and M5 form the current-mode CMFB circuit 810 without anymirror pole, and control the common-mode voltage according to areference voltage VCMR and a voltage-divided voltage derived from theoutput voltages Vo+ and Vo−.

In addition, a compensation capacitive element Cc can be used to add adominant pole to the low-BW path (i.e., the first signal processingblock 802) such that the high-BW path (i.e., the second signalprocessing block 804) can take over earlier to improve the phase margin.FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a first exemplary placement of thecompensation capacitive element Cc according to the present invention.The first signal processing block 802 includes a first stage 1002 and asecond stage 1004, and the compensation capacitive element Cc is coupledbetween the output node of the first stage 1002 (the input node of thesecond stage 1004) and a grounding node GND. FIG. 11 is a diagramillustrating a second exemplary placement of the compensation capacitiveelement Cc according to the present invention. As one can see, thecompensation capacitive element Cc in this alternative design is coupledbetween the input node and the output node of the first stage 1002.

Please note that the above exemplary embodiments/implementations are forillustrative purposes only, and are not meant to be limitations to thescope of the present invention. For example, instead of being applied tooperational amplifier(s) in the loop filter 104 shown in FIG. 2, theoperation amplifier architecture shown in FIG. 9 and related alternativedesigns may be applied to other circuit blocks within the delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter. Moreover, the exemplary DAC 112 shown inFIG. 7 is a multi-bit switched-capacitor DAC. However, the architectureof the DAC unit 702 can also be employed to realize a single-bitswitched-capacitor DAC used in the delta-sigma analog-to-digitalconverter. Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, and FIG. 9, each of theillustrated circuits is based on a differential configuration; however,with moderate modifications, the technical features mentioned above canbe applied to a single-ended configuration. Furthermore, theabove-mentioned technical features are applied to building blocks withina continuous-time delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter; however, anydelta-sigma analog-to-digital converter using one or more technicalfeatures mentioned above falls within the scope of the presentinvention. These alternative designs all obeys the spirit of the presentinvention.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

1. A loop filter implemented in a delta-sigma analog-to-digitalconverter the loop filter comprising: a plurality of integrators coupledin series, comprising a first integrator and a second integrator; afirst positive feedback resistive element, placed in a first positivefeedback path between a first output node of the second integrator and afirst input node of the first integrator; and a first negative feedbackresistive element, placed in a first negative feedback path between asecond output node of the second integrator and the first second inputnode of the first integrator.
 2. The loop filter of claim 1, wherein aresistive value of the first positive feedback resistive element isgreater than a resistive value of the first negative feedback resistiveelement.
 3. The loop filter of claim 1, further comprising: a secondpositive feedback resistive element, placed in a second positivefeedback path between the second output node of the second integratorand a second input node of the first integrator; and a second negativefeedback resistive element, placed in a second negative feedback pathbetween the first output node of the second integrator and the secondinput node of the first integrator.
 4. The loop filter of claim 3,wherein a resistive value of the first positive feedback resistiveelement is greater than a resistive value of the first negative feedbackresistive element, and a resistive value of the second positive feedbackresistive element is greater than a resistive value of the secondnegative feedback resistive element.
 5. The loop filter of claim 1,wherein the delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter is a continuous-timedelta-sigma analog-to-digital converter.
 6. A quantizer implemented in adelta-sigma analog-to-digital converter comprising: a comparing circuit,configured for comparing an analog input with a plurality of differentreference voltages to derive a plurality of comparison results,respectively, wherein each of the comparison results has either a firstlogic value or a second logic value; and a processing circuit, coupledto the comparing circuit, for generating a plurality of output logicvalues according to the comparison results, wherein when the comparisonresults include at least one first logic value and at least one secondlogic value, the processing circuit makes an output logic valuecorresponding to each comparison result in a portion of the comparisonresults have the first logic value and an output logic valuecorresponding to each comparison result in a remaining portion of thecomparison results have the second logic value, where each comparisonresult in the portion of the comparison results corresponds to areference voltage greater than a reference voltage to which eachcomparison result in the remaining portion of the comparison resultscorresponds.
 7. The quantizer of claim 6, wherein a number of thecomparison results is equal to a positive integer N, and the processingcircuit comprises: (N-1) logic gates, each having a first input node, asecond input node, and an output node for outputting a correspondingoutput logic value; wherein the (N-1) logic gates are coupled in adomino configuration and include a leading logic gate, a last logicgate, and (N-3) logic gates coupled between the leading logic gate andthe last logic gate; the second input node of the leading logic gatereceives a specific comparison result which directly serves as oneoutput logic value; first input nodes of the (N-1) logic gatesrespectively receive all the comparison results except the specificcomparison result; the output node of each of the leading logic gate andthe (N-3) logic gates is coupled to the second input node of a followinglogic gate.
 8. The quantizer of claim 7, wherein each of the (N-1) logicgates is an AND gate.
 9. The quantizer of claim 6, wherein thedelta-sigma analog-to-digital converter is a continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter.
 10. A digital-to-analog convert (DAC)implemented in a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter comprising: atleast a DAC unit, each operated according to a clock signal to convertan input bit into an analog output and comprising: a capacitive device;a resistive device, for outputting the analog output to an operationalamplifier input port within the delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter;and a switch device, coupled between the capacitive device and theresistive device, for disconnecting the resistive device from thecapacitive device and connecting a power source to the capacitive deviceto pre-charge the capacitive device when the clock signal is at a firstlogic level, and for disconnecting the power source from the capacitivedevice and connecting the resistive device to the capacitive device togenerate the analog output in response to the input bit when the clocksignal is at a second logic level different from the first logic level;wherein the resistive device is coupled between the operationalamplifier input port and the switch device.
 11. The DAC of claim 10,comprising a plurality of DAC units operated according to the clocksignal to convert a plurality of input bits into a plurality of analogoutputs, simultaneously and respectively.
 12. The DAC of claim 10,wherein: the power source comprises a first supply voltage and a secondsupply voltage; the capacitive device comprises: a first capacitiveelement, coupled between a grounding node and a first node; and a secondcapacitive element, coupled between the grounding node and a secondnode; the resistive device comprises: a first resistive element; and asecond resistive element; the switch device comprises: a first switch,coupled between the first supply voltage and the first node; a secondswitch, coupled between the second supply voltage and the second node,wherein the first switch and the second switch are both turned on whenthe clock signal is at the first logic level; a third switch, coupledbetween the first resistive element and the first node; a fourth switch,coupled between the second resistive element and the second node,wherein the third switch and the fourth switch are both turned on whenthe clock signal is at the second logic level and the input bit has afirst logic value; a fifth switch, coupled between the first resistiveelement and the second node; and a sixth switch, coupled between thesecond resistive element and the first node, wherein the fifth switchand the sixth switch are both turned on when the clock signal is at thesecond logic level and the input bit has a second logic value differentfrom the first logic value.
 13. The DAC of claim 10, wherein thedelta-sigma analog-to-digital converter is a continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter.
 14. An operational amplifier implemented ina delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter comprising: a first signalprocessing block, coupled between an input port and an output port ofthe operational amplifier; a second signal processing block, coupledbetween the input port and the output port of the operational amplifier,wherein compared with the first signal processing block, the secondsignal processing block has a lower gain and a higher bandwidth; a firstcurrent clamping circuit, coupled to the first signal processing block,for clamping a first bias current provided to the first signalprocessing block; and a second current clamping circuit, coupled to thesecond signal processing block, for clamping a second bias currentprovided to the second signal processing block.
 15. The operationalamplifier of claim 14, further comprising: a current-mode common-modefeedback (CMFB) circuit, coupled to nodes where the first currentclamping circuit and the second first current clamping circuit connectedto the first signal processing block and the second signal processingblock.
 16. The operational amplifier of claim 14, wherein the firstsignal processing block comprises a first stage and a second stage, anoutput node of the first stage is coupled to an input node of the secondstage, and the first signal processing block further comprises: acompensation capacitive element, coupled between the output node of thefirst stage and a grounding node.
 17. The operational amplifier of claim14, wherein the first signal processing block comprises a first stageand a second stage, an output node of the first stage is coupled to aninput node of the second stage, and the first signal processing blockfurther comprises: a compensation capacitive element, coupled between aninput node of the first stage and the output node of the first stage.18. The operational amplifier of claim 14, being implemented in a loopfilter of the delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter.
 19. Theoperational amplifier of claim 1 4, wherein the delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter is a continuous-time delta-sigmaanalog-to-digital converter.